Gery Verbruggen rockets from 76th to third place in Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament

    02/07/13

    2013 European Bowling Tour #2

    Four-time EBT Ranking winner rolls 1377 series in Squad 5; Birgit Pöppler remains atop the 100-player leaderboard with 1428; cut for 36th place is 1242 (207 average)

    2013EBT02GeryVerbruggen.jpg2013EBT02BirgitPoppler.jpgGery Verbruggen (pictured left) of Belgium improved his previous high series in the fifth squad of the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2013 by 275 pins to rocket from 76th to third place Wednesday evening at Dolfijn Bowling Tilburg in Tilburg, Netherlands.

    The lefty, who led the European Bowling Tour men's ranking in the Tour's first four years (2000-2003) used games of 267, 228, 203, 212, 234 and 233 for 1377 series, an average of 229.50, to improve on the 1102 series he had in Squad 4.

    As the tournament has reached the 100-player mark, Birgit Pöppler (right) of Germany remained atop the leaderboard with her 1428 high series including 8 pins women's handicap each game, which she has rolled in the opening squad.

    2013EBT02LisanneBreeschoten.jpg2013EBT02MichaelKramer.jpgLisanne Breeschoten (left) retained second place with 1390 including handicap and is the best Dutch bowler in the field.

    Michael Krämer (right), Germany, and Roel Mol, Netherlands, slipped to fourth and fifth place with 1377 and 1376. Rounding out the top six, who will receive one bye at the end of the qualifying, is currently Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands, with 1374 including handicap.

    Her fellow countryman Jeroen van Geel was the only other player Wednesday, who surpassed the 1300-mark to leap ten spots from 24th to 14th place with 1318.

    With five out of 14 qualifying squads in the books, Steve Gastmans of Belgium holds the 36th and last spot to advance with 1242 or an average of 207.00.

    Qualifying continues Thursday, February 7, with Squad 6-8 at noon, 4 and 8 p.m. CET.

    The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2013 is the second stop of the 2013 European Bowling Tour and the first of five EBT "Silver" tournaments this season. The tournament will be held from Sunday Feb. 3 through Sunday Feb. 10, 2013 at 20-lane Dolfijn Bowling in Tilburg, Netherlands.

    Players will compete for total prize money of 51.500 Euro with 8.000 Euro going to the winner, 5.000 to the runner-up and 3.000 and 2.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively.

    Once again the HBS Tournament will be contested on dual lane condition. In 2013, one lane is dressed with a 35 ft. "short" pattern and the other lane dressed with a 40 ft. "medium" pattern.

    Qualifying runs through Saturday Feb. 9 with the final qualifying Squad 14 scheduled for 6 p.m., followed by the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 9.30 p.m. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 46 players - the top 36 qualifiers, the top 4 from the Desperado Squad and the top 6 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-4 conducted Feb. 3-5 - will advance to the finals on Sunday, Feb. 10. The top 6 qualifiers will receive one bye.

    Players ranked 7 to 46 will bowl four games with the top 18 players joining the top six qualifiers in the so called group finals. Those 24 players will be divided into six groups of four players each for the first of four eliminator rounds.

    All four players will bowl a two-game match with the two lowest scoring players eliminated. The two highest scoring players advance to the next round (in the first round four "lucky losers" also advance).

    The field will be cut to 16, eight and then four players who will bowl a final two-game round to determine the champion.

     


    Related Articles


    Birgit Pöppler shoots 1379 series to lead Squad 4 in Tilburg, Netherlands
    Dutch Lisanne Breeschoten shoots 1390 series Monday to leap into second place in Tilburg
    Birgit Pöppler puts together big opening block at Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament
    2013 Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament - Tournament Information
    2013 European Bowling Tour Schedule & Champions
    2013 EBT Rankings by Bowlingdigital - Men and Women

     


    Qualifying Standings after Squad 5/14

    Â